Haven't touched the art collective web site, never did learn 3-D rendering proper (though we did release the iPhone game) and I *still* don't have a screenprinting studio.

However, I'm 4 weeks shy of completing my first year as a freelance artist. I have more than enough work to keep myself busy and I'm really happy doing the work that I do. It might jump around and I lose track of my goals in the pursuit of paying the bills by any means necessary, but it's the best damn job in the world right now.

The first novel to feature my illustration work inside is due out tomorrow from Apex Books. It's "Prime" by Nate Kenyon, a Neal Stephenson-esque science fiction murder mystery, for which I did four interior illustrations (see sample below). It's a real step forward for me as a freelancer, and it was fun job to work on.

Oh, and the summer gaming festival went well. Transhuman Space: Genetic Demos is currently norwegian only, but I'm feeling the urge to revise and translate it. Turned out as a kind of open-ended comedy heist story that could go grim and serious at any corner.

To self publish, mostly using the photobook feature of shutterfly.com, my own children's book. Depending on how well it comes out, I intend to pitching it. I have already done a dummy @ 8x8 but I encountered unwanted cropping during the print run.

The Shutterfly.com Photobooks come out remarkably professional and polished for $15.99.

Well I did the articles for the most part, never started either short story, though I did work on two others instead. And only got a part time gig instead of an internship... I guess not horrible.

Have also been writing scripts for a web series that should be filming in the next few weeks, the holder site page is up here it looks crummy because my Dreamweaver crashed and I haven't been able to resurrect it, so I had to use the blasted template which SUCKS. Also have a MySpace and a twitter account as well. A teaser should be filled this week though so actual content in maybe two weeks! Yay!

A busy month is followed by a busy month.Krista and I are finishing up the first issue of Virtuoso, a comic about the viral nature of technology (also women in armor riding dinosaurs). The website will be launched soon, then we'll be putting together the submission packets for a few publishers. On my front I'm doing some artist hunting for two other horror projects, writing a couple short stories, starting on another comic script, and I just might put a book proposal together, but that's very nebulous. I'm also doing modeling for Lastwear, have a photoshoot coming up on Monday for that, have to get ready for Steamcon (which might include setting up a fight scene).On the personal front I'm going to try to make it to kenjutsu class more often, make it out to the club when I can, and continue hanging out with the stunningly cool people I've met up here in Seattle.

Update: All three scripts written (well, one needs one more scene but I can't do that until I have the next volume worked out, nevermind the details). As for drawing... well... the project that was going to be my weird mutation of 24 hour comic (300 page graphic novel in a month, ten pages a day) turned into a regular graphic novel, turned 3/4 volume graphic novel and is about to turn into a 10 issue series (each issue at 48-50 pages). Right now I'm stuck at the problem of choosing color/b&w.The other two... one is still waiting for a larger scanner (so I can easily design everything as a doublespread) and the other is on hold as I have to redraw volume 1.

The goal was finishing the scripts and drawing at least part of one of these. So... a partial success?

I did Transmet on my podcast last week. I think it is laudatory enough that I should avoid arse-eeling for a while... I'm waiting very impatiently (yes, yes, just like everyone else) for the last issue of Planetary so I can get that one in the queue....

Boodoffstage, brewing your own beer is super. The project I was just about to post about was my new kegerator. I helped my roommate build his, but I feel like I can do much better. Right now I have a 25cu. ft. chest freezer (that's 4 half barrels side by side with room for ponies in between) and the temperature controller on the way. A restaurant is closing in a town a few hours from here and selling their draft tower with 8 taps and glycol cooling for a pretty reasonable price. Once I get that it should be smooth sailing. Just need to figure out a wood for the bar top. Right now I'm thinking cocobolo. Collllllllllege

All of my projects have ground to a near halt. Hard to get animated and/or prioritize when no one is pushing me or there is no deadline. Since I last wrote I did the stage managing but that's over and done. Submitted a play to direct next year for company I've worked with, still waiting to hear back. (Not being a company member I don't feel I have very high chances.) I've written just a tiny bit more on the novel and found that I don't know how to give it the ending it needs. I need to do a complete rewrite anyway, as I discovered the major arch won't work the way the structure is now. Not annoyed by that, started the novel at NaNoWriMo - and I hit 50K thankyouverymuch - but it is a little tough to force myself to sit down and write when I already know what happens.

Oh anyway.... Did start talking with an artist about a comic. I've never done one so I don't know how eager she would be to work with me. Neither one of us has any money so I have no idea how this would go. I should bug her for a hard yes or no and get writing.

Met with a friend to research the structure of yet another story. He helped me out but also made me see what a massive amount of work is still in front of me. And how even the work alone isn't going to insure the project ever sees the light of day.

1. Illustrating a short story written by a friend involving Alistair Crowley in drag. This is for publishing. - Turned into a freaking novel so we started on a different story, but the person who took over running the collection and publishing side from me turned out to be the worst person to do it and we're no longer submitting.

2. A gallery submission for oztaku - Gallery display got canceled

3. I think, given time around uni, weddings, and art-with-a-deadline, I'll be getting started on a series of related peices that are buzzing round in my head. - Bwahahahahaaaa FAIL. I've moved three times since I wrote this original post...

So what's actually happening at the moment:

Researching, writing, and gathering the things and people required to get a piece of comic work and a magazine off the ground. This may yet be made of FAIL being that I still, two months later have not been able to get my co-conspirator to actually read his fucking mail. That said I'm still working on it even if he's being a dick.

Ditched the accounting degree and start a fine arts degree next month. Much happier, and finally enthused about something I'm doing with my life. Working on bringing my "skills' back to an appropriate level and cursing that life drawing classes are so bloody expensive on a weekly basis when you only work part time. So projects = folio of life drawings, sketches and still life works in various mediums. I'm thoroughly enjoying this.

Planning for the Burning Man Australia Seed has begun amongst myself and the other person I have confirmed I'll be dragging up north with me. This will be an ongoing one for at least the next 6 months, then off to Europe for a few weeks and back in time to do final prep.

My final project is convincing my boss that allowing me to do my cert 4 in business administration is not a waste of time and money because this would put me in a great position to get a job I actually want to go to in 12 months time.

Also yesterday I finally put pen to paper on a novel that's been fermenting in my skull for what must be nearly a year. As soon as my zillion assignments, uni theatre production and wisdom tooth surgery are out of the way I'm going to make a wordcount schedule for that. It's been a while since I've started something large, let alone finished it, so that is. A thing.

Animation is predicted to be three minutes long. "Ares", 25000 words at least.

Ha. Hahaha. "25000 words". HahahahahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

At least the flash animation was finished and published and my website has been updated regularly throughout the year, not to mention the other website I write for, WHORE ISLAND. "Ares" went through the complications of going from a short story, to a story, to a novel that requires quite a lot of research, to losing everything when the file was corrupted, to starting over again and swearing a lot. I know exactly how to continue it and I think the research paid off and the science bits are believable, but I have been sidetracked by a graphic novel script (which I finally decided to abandon until "Ares" is finished) and a children's play (I think I'm finally getting around to saying I'm writing a children's play without suffering seizures), and that one I must finish within this month, so writing of "Ares" will resume next month. If I dedicate myself to it and forget to have a life (and, occasionally, eating) I might finish the partially revised second draft before the year ends.

the first is a split cassette on AghartA tapes out of Lithuania. i have one side and a (i think Norwegian) project called bruzgynai has the other.

the second is a cd on my own Quiet World label of a meditative drone piece i created combining my own music with a set of field recordings made in the mountains around Tucson by a friend named Banks Bailey. an earlier collaboration we made can be dl'ed here and the album of his unadulterated field recordings that i released on QW last year will be available for free dl from the site later in the month.

"Started eating them from the feet up, but y'know ...women. Nothing makes them happy"

Andre, that line made me cackle. I look forward to nosing around your webplace more in the future.

Thank you. I usually prefer visual gags for Pitch Black, which is why I'm not very satisfied with this three-part series (of which you read the second part, the third still unpublished), but I'm posting it for the sake of variety.